Local inauguration celebration weighed

Hotel rooms from Virginia to Maryland are filling up for the inauguration President-elect Barack Obama, and tickets to the Washington D.C.-area events are harder to find than good seats to this year's Iron Bowl.

But City Council members have a plan to bring a piece of the pageantry and excitement of a presidential inauguration to downtown Birmingham.

The council this afternoon will discuss a proposal to erect screens and broadcast the inauguration in Kelly-Ingram Park as part of a day and night of activities.

"People can't get tickets. But if we are able to simulcast the inauguration it would almost be like being there," said Council President Carole Smitherman.

The activities would be a partnership between the city and the Civil Rights Institute.

The event would also include refreshments and other activities including a prayer service for the nation at the nearby Sixteenth Street Baptist Church and an evening reception at the Institute.

"We're really excited about the possibilities," said Angela Fisher Hall, the Institute's vice president of special projects. "We certainly want to mark this important event here in Birmingham because had it not been for the events that happened here in Birmingham we might not have a President Obama. It's important to bring this type of celebration to the Civil Rights District because this was the heartbeat of the movement."

If the council favors the idea,, Smitherman said, cost estimates and plans will be drawn up.